A new sanctuary by Co-op New West Jackson
A place to breathe.
A place to be.
Black Oak Farm is a new retreat and residency center being developed on 23 acres in Shannon, Mississippi. Created by the Cooperative Community of New West Jackson, it will provide organizers, artists, community leaders and kin with space to rest, create, gather and prepare for what comes next. We are raising $2 million to renovate the property, develop the land and support its first three years of operation.
What does it take to stay?
For more than a decade, CO-OP New West Jackson has helped residents build community-controlled housing, land, businesses, food infrastructure and gathering spaces and imagine new possibilities for the community.
Through that work, one question kept rising to the surface: How do we stay rooted in the places we love when so many people are carrying chronic illness, poverty, grief, addiction, burnout, limited access to resources, and the daily pressure of survival?
Black Oak Farm extends the work of CO-OP New West Jackson by creating an away space where the people sustaining our communities can rest, reflect, create and return renewed.
The property has been purchased, and we are now renovating its buildings, preparing the land and developing the residency and retreat programs that will bring it to life.
23
Beautiful Acres
Shannon, Mississippi
Just 2.5 hours north of Jackson, MS (1.5 hours south of Memphis,TN and 2 hours west of Birmingham, AL)
Oak trees and magnolias, open fields, a main house with a pool, guesthouse, barn, porches and gathering areas, peacocks, and a five-acre lake.
Black Oak is being created primarily for organizers, artists and community leaders — especially people whose work requires sustained creativity, care and commitment to place.
It will also host aligned organizations, families, cultural gatherings and community celebrations. We are carefully shaping it into a place where people can receive exactly what they need.
What Will Happen at Black Oak:
Individual and small-group artist residencies
Rest and strategy retreats for organizers
Retreats for aligned nonprofits and community organizations
Cultural ceremonies and rites of passage
Community meals, gatherings and celebrations
Writing, reflection and documentation of movement knowledge
Outdoor recreation, gardening and time on the land
Pockets of peace: Places to sit, breathe, create, talk, laugh, play and remember what is possible beyond the current reality.
FROM co-FOUNDER: NIA UMOJA
The First artist Held by Black Oak
Even rest is a privilege for people living and working wholly in neighborhoods suffering the consequences of anti-Black racism and genocidal poverty. How is it that even when we own our hood we still find no space within our place to deeply rest, reflect, imagine or dream expansively, uninterrupted?
We need spaces away from the harbingers of the day-to-day oppression and injustice to do that work — spaces that juxtapose our current realities with what can be, in culturally meaningful ways; places that honor rest and rejuvenation as much as resistance.
Rest is essential to wellness. And wellness is essential to being whole. And wholeness is essential to liberation. We must rest to resist! We must rest to rise! We must rest to re-imagine and reclaim ourselves and our futures.
I am honored to have the opportunity to design a place that institutes our collective care call, embraces our ancient maternal wisdom, and uplifts our audacity to dream with love, care and intention. I understand the imperative need for stress recess from my own near burnout after nearly 20 years working on the ground, and I think cultural respite spaces should be accessible to all — even our most vulnerable and underprivileged.
Black Oak Farm will be that kind of place; a place that offers ways for our people, organizers, artists and kin to stay engaged, inspired and rooted in the arduous work of liberation long term.
Black Oak is still becoming
Help us create the conditions for rest, joy, hope, and possibility.
$2M
Fundraising goal
To complete the property’s development and support Black Oak through its first three years of operation. Every contribution helps turn a piece of the vision into something people can walk into, sit inside, gather around, and carry home with them. Our first $375,000 will complete the main house and guesthouse spaces, address essential safety and access improvements, and enable Black Oak to purchase much needed maintenance equipment.
01
Restore the
buildings
Renovate the main house, guesthouse, lakehouse, barn and gathering spaces.
02
Prepare & Care
for the land
Develop gardens, gathering areas, landscaping and environmental stewardship.
03
Make the property safe & accessible
Improve roads, drainage, lighting, parking, entryways and wayfinding.
04
Equip
the Farm
Purchase the vehicles, tools and equipment needed to maintain 23 acres.
05
Open Black Oak
to more people
Subsidize residencies, transportation and participation for people who otherwise could not afford to come.
06
Support the
first 3 years
Fund staffing, utilities, maintenance, programming and responsible daily operations.
- $30 helps provide fuel for mowers, plant a fruit tree or purchase groundskeeping supplies
- $75 supports transportation costs and building materials
- $300 contributes to pay neighbor labor from the co-op, our design and renovation team
- $1,500 will help purchase necessary equipment, install an artistic entrance to demarcate our new intention and provide general operating support
Black Oak Farm is being built for generations of organizers, artists, families, and community members who deserve room to breathe. Your gift helps prepare the land, restore the buildings, support future guests, and create a lasting home for rest, creativity, culture, and collective wellbeing.
MORE WAYS TO CONTRIBUTE:
For foundations, sponsors, institutional partners and people interested in supporting a residency, building or area of work. Email us to start a conversation.
For aligned groups interested in future retreats, gatherings or learning visits. Reach out for more information.
Join us for stories from the land, renovation updates, glimpses of the spaces taking shape, and opportunities to visit, gather, volunteer, and support the farm.